NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 19950012719: An integrated strategy for the planetary sciences: 1995 - 2010

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NASA-CR-I_71_
(NASA-CR-197145) AN II_TEGRATEC N95-19134
STRATEGY FOR THE PLANF. TARY
SCIENCES: 1995 - 2010 (NA S-NRC )
20a p UncJas

An Integrated Strategy
for the
Planetary Sciences:
1995-2010
Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration
Space Studies Board
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
National Research Council
Washington, D.C. 1994
NOTICE: The project that isthe subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the
National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy
of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of
the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard
for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures
approved bya Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Scienc-
es, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distin-
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science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charier
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federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the
National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It isautonomous in
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also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and
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Kenneth I.Shine ispresident of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to
associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering
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National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to
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tered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Robert
M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Support for this project was provided by Contract NASW-4627 between the National Academy
of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 94-69692
Cover." Mars image courtesy of Kathy Hoyt of the U.S. Geological Survey, Hagstaff, Arizona.
Jupiter image courtesy of Reta Beebe of New Mexico State University. Cover design by Penny E.
Margolskee.
Copies of this report are available from
Space Studies Board
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418
Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
COMMITTEE ON PLANETARY AND LUNAR EXPLORATION
JOSEPH A. BURNS, Cornell University, Chair
JAMES ARNOLD, University of California, San Diego
FRANCES BAGENAL, University of Colorado
RETA F. BEEBE,* New Mexico State University
ALAN P. BOSS,* Carnegie Institution of Washington
GEOFFREY A. BRIGGS, NASA Ames Research Center
MICHAEL H. CARR, U.S. Geological Survey
PHILIP R. CHRISTENSEN, Arizona State University
ANITA L. COCHRAN,* University of Texas, Austin
JAMES L. ELLIOT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PETER J. GIERASCH,* Cornell University
JOHN F. KERRIDGE, University of California, San Diego
WILLIAM S. KURTH,* University of lowa
BARRY H. MAUK, Applied Physics Laboratory
WILLIAM B. McKINNON, Washington University
NORMAN R. PACE, Indiana University
GRAHAM RYDER,* Lunar and Planetary Institute
DARRELL F. STROBEL, Johns Hopkins University
ALAN F. TOKUNAGA, University of Hawaii
GEORGE W. WETHERILL, Carnegie Institution of Washington
ROGER YELLE, University of Arizona
MARIA T. ZUBER, Johns Hopkins University
Staff
DAVID H. SMITH, Executive Secretary
BOYCE N. AGNEW, Senior Project Assistant
ALTORIA B. ROSS, Senior Project Assistant
*Termexpiredin 1993.
iii
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
CLAUDE R. CANIZARES, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chair
LOUIS J. LANZEROTTI,* AT&T Bell Laboratories, Chair
JOHN A. ARMSTRONG, IBM Corporation (retired)
JOSEPH A. BURNS, Cornell University
ANTHONY W. ENGLAND, University of Michigan
JAMES P. FERRIS,* Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
DANIEL J. FINK, D.J. Fink Associates, Inc.
HERBERT FRIEDMAN,* Naval Research Laboratory
MARTIN E. GLICKSMAN, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
HAROLD J. GUY, University of California, San Diego
NOEL W. HINNERS, Martin Marietta Aeronautics Company
ROBERT A. LAUDISE, AT&T Bell Laboratories
RICHARD S. LINDZEN,* Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN H. McELROY, University of Texas, Arlington
WILLIAM J. MERRELL, JR.,* Texas A&M University
NORMAN F. NESS,* University of Delaware
MARCIA NEUGEBAUER, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
SIMON OSTRACH, Case Western Reserve University
JEREMIAH P. OSTRIKER, Princeton University
CARLI_ M. PIETERS, Brown University
JUDITH PIPHER, University of Rochester
MARCIA J. RIEKE, University of Arizona
ROLAND W. SCHMITT, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
WILLIAM A. S1RIGNANO,* University of California, Irvine
JOHN W. TOWNSEND, JR.,* National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (retired)
FRED W. TUREK,* Northwestern University
ARTHUR B.C. WALKER, JR., Stanford University
MARC S. ALLEN, Director
*Term expired June 1994,
iv
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES,
MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
RICHARD N. ZARE, Stanford University, Chair
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON, American Association for the
Advancement of Science, Vice Chair
STEPHEN L. ADLER, Institute for Advanced Study
JOHN A. ARMSTRONG, IBM Corporation (retired)
SYLVIA T. CEYER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
AVNER FRIEDMAN, University of Minnesota
SUSAN L. GRAHAM, University of California, Berkeley
ROBERT J. HERMANN, United Technologies Corporation
HANS MARK, University of Texas, Austin
CLAIRE E. MAX, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE, University of California, Berkeley
JAMES W. MITCHELL, AT&T Bell Laboratories
JEROME SACKS, National Institute of Statistical Sciences
A. RICHARD SEEBASS III, University of Colorado
LEON T, SILVER, California Institute of Technology
CHARLES P. SLICHTER, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
ALVIN W. TRIVELPIECE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director

Preface
The Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) advises the
Space Studies Board (SSB) on the entire range of planetary science studies; these
include both ground-based activities and space-based efforts. The disciplinary scope
of its advice includes the geosciences, atmospheres, exobiology, particles and fields,
planetary astronomy, and the search for planets around other stars.
COMPLEX's advisory base is made up of a series of reports published over
the last 15 years. These documents (see bibliography) establish the scientific
goals and objectives in each of the following areas: inner planets, outer planets,
primitive solar system bodies, detection and study of other planetary systems,
and origins and evolution of life (aresponsibility inherited from the SSB's former
Committee on Planetary Biology and Chemical Evolution). To date, no COM-
PLEX strategy has set scientific priorities across the entire field of planetary
science. However, because of the increasing competition for limited resources,
it is now desirable to undertake this prioritization.
As a result, the SSB charged COMPLEX with carrying out a study to estab-
lish a unified set of priorities for the scientific exploration of the planets. In
particular, the study was to address the tollowing points:
• Summarize current understanding of the planets and the solar system;
• Pose the most significant scientific questions that remain; and
• Establish the priorities h)r scientific exploration of the planets for the
period from 1995 to 2010.
Early in the preparations for this study COMPLEX decided that it would
divide the planetary sciences into broad discipline areas such as solid bodies and
vii
I::_laOB_ PAGE BLANK NOT FlltMED
viii PREFACE
interiors, atmospheres, magnetospheres, rings, primitive bodies, and origins.
Committee members were assigned to one of these groups on the basis of their
individual expertise and knowledge. COMPLEX's membership was also ex-
panded to ensure adequate representation for each discipline area.
The study began with a workshop in Irvine, California, in July 1992. Invit-
ed presenters briefed the committee on the latest developments in each of the
discipline areas. Following the presentations, COMPLEX members and guests
adjourned to discussion groups to produce documents summarizing the status of
knowledge in each of the relevant subject areas. These drafts became the foun-
dation on which subsequent phases of the study were built.
Work on the report continued with visits to major centers for research in the
planetary sciences. At each site, COMPLEX was briefed on future mission
possibilities, while additional presentations were loosely organized around a com-
mon theme. The sites visited included NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center,
theme: space-based observatories (September 1992); NASA-Jet Propulsion Lab-
oratory, theme: microrobotic technology (January 1993); and University of
Arizona, theme: ground-based observatories (April 1993). At each of these
locations, COMPLEX gave a public presentation on the nature of its study and
invited input from the local community. In some cases, these presentations were
followed by extended group discussions with local scientists.
Outreach activities also included a mass mailing (conducted with the assis-
tance of the Lunar and Planetary Institute) to members of the planetary science
community soliciting opinions on priorities. A short article about COMPLEX's
study was published in Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. Addi-
tional public presentations about the committee's activities were made at various
universities and research centers as well as at a number of major national and
international scientific conferences, including those of the American Astronomi-
cal Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (October 1992, Munich, Germany)
and the American Geophysical Union (December 1992, San Francisco, Califor-
nia), and the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (March 1993, Houston,
Texas). Representatives from the European Space Science Committee partici-
pated in several of COMPLEX's meetings. In addition, COMPLEX cooperated
with and coordinated its activities in areas of mutual interest with the SSB's
Committee on Solar and Space Physics and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences
and Climate's Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research, currently engaged in
drafting ajoint research strategy for solar and space physics.
COMPLEX's final list of priorities was drafted at a workshop held in Woods
Hole, Massachusetts, in July 1994. The priorities were set following an exten-
sive series of ballots (both public and private) using a variety of procedures
designed to test the validity of the results. Consistent results were obtained
whether the committee members voted as individuals or collectively by disci-
pline group. In other words, top-rated priorities received both broad individual
support and broad discipline support.